Tap pressure balance valve

ABSTRACT

A tap pressure balance valve for maintaining normal operation of the tap has a coil and a cut-off disposed in a though hole of a secondary case at where in relation to a water outlet provided on a deck of a primary case for the coil to push against the cut-off to maintain water tight between the through hole of the secondary case and the water outlet of the primary case so to avoid seepage from the interface where both cases are incorporated to each other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVETION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to a tap pressure balance valve, andmore particularly to one that maintains normal operation of the tap byhaving disposed a coil and a cut-off in a through hole of a secondarycase at where in relation to an water outlet from a deck of a primarycase for the coil to push against the cut-off to maintain watertightbetween the through hole and the water outlet of the primary case thusto prevent seepage from the interface where the primary and thesecondary cases are incorporated to each other.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

A mixer valve is usually provided inside a tap so to mix the hot and thecold water before being delivered through a sprout for use. Theconstruction of a mixer valve to a tap of the prior art to mix hot waterand cold water tends to focus on the design of mixing without safetymeasures to cope with abnormal conditions including interrupted supplyof water. Therefore, when the supply either of the hot water or the coldwater is interrupted, the sprout remains delivery the water to causesudden supply of hot or cold water only. Sudden cold water supplyparticularly in the wintertime would expose the user to catch cold; andsudden hot water, to be scalded. To correct this problem, an improvementwas introduced by providing a pressure balance valve to automaticallystop water delivery in case of sudden interruption of hot or cold waterfor safety concerns.

The pressure balance valve of the prior art is essentially comprised ofhaving a rubber diaphragm inserted into the space inside a combinedcase, and a balance valve inserted through a through hole disposed atthe center of the diaphragm. In normal supply of cold and hot water, thediaphragm stays at its position in the case while the valve is away fromits status to close up both inlets of hot and cold water. When eitherhot or cold water supply is suddenly interrupted, the changed waterpressure causes the diaphragm to be deformed and displaced, leadingfurther to the valve to the end of the water is not interrupted tocontact its water inlet and to indicate watertight status. Since theother end of the water is already interrupted, the supply of both hotand cold water is stopped to prevent sudden supply of cold or hot wateronly, thus to prevent the user from catching cold or getting scalded.

However, in the prior art, the installation of the diaphragm and thevalve is achieved by having their respective cases combined to eachother. The possible seepage at the interface between both cases must betaken into consideration. To achieve watertight results, usually acut-off is provided to the interface to present seepage of water fromthe interface of combination.

Both cases must compress against the cut-off for the cut-off to achievethe watertight results, i.e., close coordination from the interface ofthe combined cases must be provided. Any error in the manufacturingprocess of the interface between the combined cases would fail goodwatertight results, leading to possible seepage from the interfacebetween the combined cases that may significantly affect the normaloperation of the tap as a whole.

Furthermore, a shallow slot may be provided on the case for theinsertion of the cut-off; however, insufficient depth of the slot failsto effectively secure the water. As a result, the water is vulnerable tofall off or deflection in the course of the combination of both cases tocompromise the assembly quality and function. During the assemblyprocess, greater compression force is required for the cases to securethe cut-off for the expected watertight results. Accordingly, how tosecure ideal watertight results for the pressure balance valve of thetap becomes the primary target of the R&D efforts for the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVETION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a tappressure balance valve to easily achieve excellent watertight results inthe combination of cases of the balance valve thus to prevent seepagefrom the interface between both cases while maintain normal operation ofthe tap as a whole.

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a tap pressurebalance valve to easily achieve excellent positioning results for thewater stop accessories in their assembly process, thus to save laborcost while minimizing impacts of case process precision upon thewatertight efficacy.

To achieve those purposes, the present invention is essentiallycomprised of having a coil and a cut-off disposed in a though hole of asecondary case at where in relation to a water outlet provided on a deckof a primary case for the coil to push against the cut-off to maintainwatertight between the through hole of the secondary case and the wateroutlet of the primary case so to avoid seepage from the interface whereboth cases are incorporated to each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the construction of a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another schematic view showing the construction of a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a pressure balance valve of the preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is essentially comprised of a primary case (10) and asecondary case (20) riveted to each other to form a case for the balancevalve; and a balance diaphragm (30) and a balance valve (40) disposed inthe space defined by both cases (10, 20).

Wherein, a deck (11) that contacts a water control valve (notillustrated) extends from the top of the primary case (10); a wateroutlet (111) penetrating through a chamber (12) in the primary case (10)is provided on the deck (11) and another water outlet (112) penetratingthrough the secondary case (20) at where it is combined to the primarycase (10); a through hole (21) is provided to the secondary case (20) atwhere in relation to the water outlet (112) from the deck (11) of theprimary case (10); the through hole (21) penetrates through a chamber(22) inside the secondary case (20); the upper section of the throughhole (21) relates to a flared section (211) containing a coil (23) and acut-off (24); the outer diameter of the cut-off (24) substantially equalto the inner diameter of the flared section (211) of the through hole(21) from the secondary casing (20) to realize watertight status betweenthe cut-off (24) and the flared section (211); and the inner diameter ofthe cut-off (24) is substantially equal to that of the through hole(112) of the deck (11) from the primary case (10) so to realizewatertight status by having the cut-off (24) to touch the base of thedeck (11) of the primary case (10) when the cut-off (24) is pushedagainst by the coil (23). Accordingly, the through hole (21) from thesecondary case (20) is connected to the through hole (112) from theprimary case (10).

The balance valve (40) includes a base (41) inserted to the balancediaphragm (30). Wherein, the insertion between the balance diaphragm(30) and the base (41) is secured by two rings (42, 42′) disposed onboth sides of the balance valve (40); two valve seats (43, 43′) are theninserted into the base (41) from both ends of the base (41); both valveseats (43, 43′) respectively contain coils (44, 44′) and bolts (45, 45′)for both coils (44, 44′) to provide flexible compression and motion playto both bolts (45, 45′); and finally both ends of the base (41) arerespectively plugged with two retaining rings (46, 46′) to limit bothvalve seats (43, 43′) from escaping. Before admitting any water, bothbolts (45, 45′) of the balance valve (40) for being pushed by both coils(44, 44′) respectively hold against water inlets of the primary case(10) and the secondary case (20). Once water is admitted, both bolts(45, 45′) for being subject to the water pressure retreat to keep thewater lines unobstructed. Should either water line be interrupted, thebalanced water pressure is compromised to push the balance diaphragm(30) and the balance valve (40) toward the water line that is cut off;meanwhile, the retaining ring (46) is deviated to contact its valve seat(43) to become watertight for cutting off the water supply from bothwater lines (the art described above relates to the prior art,therefore, no elaboration will be given here).

In the preferred embodiment, all parts of the balance valve (40) arefirst mounted to the balance diaphragm (30), both of the balancediaphragm (30) and the balance valve (40) are then inserted into thechamber (12) inside the primary case (10); and finally the secondarycase (20) is incorporated to the primary case (10) at a pre-selectedlocation and accommodates both of the balance diaphragm (30) and thebalance valve (40) in its chamber (22). Accordingly, both of the balancediaphragm (30) and the balance valve (40) are accommodated in the spacedefined by both chambers (12, 22). Meanwhile, the coil (23) disposed inthe flared section (211) of the through hole (21) from the secondarycase (20) pushes against the cut-off (24) to force the top of thecut-off (24) to constitute watertight with the bottom of the deck (11)from the primary case (10), and thus to achieve water cut-off results atthe interface between both of the primary and the secondary cases (10,20). Even though a gap (A) does exist between the top of the secondarycase (20) and the bottom of the deck (11) of the primary case (10), thewatertight status is easily achieved with the coil (23) pushing againstthe cut-off (24). The present invention by providing the coil (23) andthe cut-off (24) allows easy combination of both of the primary and thesecondary cases (10, 20) to realize excellent watertight efficacy sothat both of hot water and cold water are respectively supplied from thechamber (12) of the primary case (10) through the water outlet (111) andfrom the chamber (22) of the secondary case (20) through the wateroutlet (112) to arrive at the water control valve on top (notillustrated) and prevents seepage from the interface where both of theprimary and the secondary cases (10, 20) are incorporated to each otherfor maintaining normal operation of the pressure balance valve of thepresent invention as a whole.

As described above, the tap pressure balance valve of the presentinvention is designed by having the secondary case to relatively connectthrough both of the coil and cut-off built in the through hole of thewater outlet on the deck of the primary case to automatically achievewatertight results by having the coil to push against the cut-off.Wherein, even there is any gap existing at the interface between both ofthe primary and the secondary cases due to process error, pushingagainst the waster by the coil allows easy water cut-off results withoutthe risk of seepage to effectively eliminate those flaws found with theprior art.

The present invention of an improved construction of a tap pressurebalance valve by providing a coil and a cut-off washer to easily achievewatertight results allows easy assembly and excellent water cutoffresults to maintain the normal operation of the pressure balance valveas a whole in giving excellent industrial value and utility. Therefore,this application for a utility patent is duly filed.

1. A tap pressure balance valve includes a case comprised of a primarycase and a secondary case incorporated to each other; a balancediaphragm and a balance valve in each chamber of the primary and thesecondary cases; a deck to contact a water control valve extending fromthe top of the primary case; a water outlet penetrating through thechamber of the primary case being provided on the deck; another wateroutlet penetrating through the secondary chase at where it is combinedto the primary case being disposed to the secondary case; a through holebeing disposed to the secondary case at where in relation with the wateroutlet on the deck from the primary case; the through hole passingthrough the chamber of the secondary case to connect the water outletfrom the primary case; the top of the through hole of the secondary casebeing related to a flared section to contain a coil and a cut-offwasher; the coil pushing against the cut-off washer to achievewatertight status between the cut-off washer and the bottom of the deckfrom the primary case once the secondary case is incorporated to theprimary case at a pre-selected location; and seepage from the interfacebetween both of the primary and the secondary cases being prevented tomaintain normal operation of the tap pressure balance valve.
 2. The tappressure balance valve of claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of thecut-off washer is approximately equal to the inner diameter of theflared section of the through hole from the secondary case to achievewatertight status between the cut-off washer and the flared section; theinner diameter of the cut-off washer is equal to the through hole on thedeck from the primary case; and the cut-off washer contacts the bottomof the deck from the primary case when pushed against by the coil toprovide watertight results.